DefaultApp is a MacOS 8 utility that allows you to open documents matching certain file/creator types with the applications you specify, instead of the applications that created those documents.
For instance, DefaultApp can be configured so that when you double-click a SimpleText document in the Finder, it gets opened in a more powerful text editor, like Style or Tex-Edit Plus.
How Do I Configure DefaultApp?
The current version of DefaultApp is nothing more than a proof of concept (a quick and dirty hack, if you wish). As such, it doesnﾕt even have a user interface: to configure it, you have to open DefaultApp with ResEdit and modify the aMAP resource. This resource is just a list of triplets that map file type/creator pairs to application signatures: DefaultApp scans this list sequentially when you double-click a document in the Finder, and if a match is found, it forces the Finder to open the document with the corresponding application.
For instance, if you want all SimpleText documents opened with Style, the aMAP resource must include the following triplets:
TEXT ttxt Stﾘl
ttro ttxt Stﾘl
Wildcards are allowed in the file creator field: e.g., the following triplet:
TEXT **** TBB6
forces all text files (regardless of creator) to be opened by Tex-Edit Plus.
How Do I Install DefaultApp?
Once you have properly configured DefaultApp, just drop it in your Extensions folder and restart.
Version History
1997-08-17 1.0d0 First attempt: Default App is a faceless application
1997-08-19 1.0b1 Completely rewritten as a small extension
Who Wrote This Stuff?
DefaultApp was originally written by Marco Piovanelli on a sunday afternoon. You can contact him at the following address:
